Difference between fear and phobia

It speaks in general when you have a phobia of fear disproportionate to the circumstances and in the absence of real danger. The subject is aware of this and yet fails to respond, as if paralyzed. Although fear is not in itself a negative emotion, when you can become extreme, becoming phobia.

Fear is a real defense mechanism. Since childhood preserves us from potentially dangerous situations, putting ourselves in a state of alert and urging us to deal with caution. Moreover, fear may be used as an impetus for action, as positive voltage to the result.
The fear of failure, for example, can go to commit ourselves to accomplish in the best way an assignment given to us.

But when fear is the extreme phobia to become paralyzed, and sometimes merely cancels, lack the ability to make decisions and putting ourselves at the mercy of fate, events and especially the decisions of others. Avoid triggering situations beyond doubt the occurrence of panic attack and often cancels, but it is a solution worse than the disease, since as a result forcing us to live a thousand limitations, as if we were in a cage.

The attitude is typical of phobic flight, not only by circumstances, but also by emotions. He then surrender to live a rich life experiences and emotions, whether negative or positive.
The easiest way to overcome this extreme form of fear is to face it. When we do that, deprived of the power we have conferred.

All you have to do in the first step to tackle the phobia is to accept and recognize that it is only a state of mind, a creation of our mind. So it's time to see if the situation that evokes that emotion is very dramatic and frightening as it seems or has been exaggerated by our imagination. Fear clouds our rationality and try to reflect a bit 'of wisdom to help regain control and go further to act.

Symptoms of panic attacks

The panic attack has a sudden onset, rapidly reaches its peak (usually within 10 minutes or less) and takes about 20 minutes (but sometimes much less or more).
Symptoms that may characterize the panic attack are:
- Palpitations / tachycardia (irregular beats, heavy shaking in the breast, feel the beat in my throat)
- Fear of losing control or going crazy (eg, fear of doing something embarrassing in public or fear to escape when it hits the panic or lose your temper)
- Feelings of confusion, instability (dizziness and vertigo)
- Tremor fine or large shocks
- Sweating
- Feeling of choking
- Pain or discomfort in the chest
- Feelings of derealization (perception of the outside world as strange and unreal feeling dizzy and detachment) and depersonalization (altered sense of self characterized by feelings of detachment or estrangement from their thought processes or body)
- Chills
- Flushing
- Paresthesia (numbness or tingling sensations)
- Nausea or abdominal discomfort
- Feeling of choking
- A feeling of suffocation (close or throat)

What are panic attacks

What are panic attacks

Panic disorder, ie DP (once known as DAP or panic disorder) is a serious problem of anxiety that affects approximately one person out of 75. Usually appears during adolescence or early adulthood and appears to be a link with the most important transitions of life that lead inevitably a certain amount of stress and anxiety: the school and university exams, marriage, first child, change their job or position, and so on. If a family has suffered from panic attacks, you are more likely to suffer from the same disorder. The true causes, however, are another.

In a recent study has found that the United States in some cases people have seen ten or more doctors before their disease was correctly diagnosed, and only one in four people who have the disorder receive the treatment they need. That's why it is very important to know what are the symptoms and be sure of receiving the right help.

Many people (about one in three) experience occasional panic attacks, and if they have had one or two, probably there is no need to worry about. The key feature of the disorder, it is the persistent fear of having more attacks in future. If you suffer from repeated attacks or, especially, if he has had one and lived in constant fear of having another, this is the signal that you should consider the help of a therapist who can treat anxiety disorders.

Very often, the disorder panic attacks, first of all psychological disorders, is just the tip of the iceberg of what is going on inside the mind of an individual. Often we are faced with a series of personal experiences as divorced parents, death in the family, mothers, fathers too anxious or too authoritarian. Or have suffered an accident, spent hard times at some point in their lives, and so on. In all these cases where the individual is suffering, awareness of having a psychological problem is usually sufficient to push the individual to seek help.

Without being treated, panic disorder can lead to consequences of various kinds, as described later. There are several things worth knowing for those suffering from this disorder or who is close to the sufferer. First, there are psychotherapists who are primarily from panic attacks. Secondly, psychotherapy is essential. Treat this disorder with medication only means, at best, only temporarily set aside while, thanks to psychotherapy, not just the symptoms (panic attacks) will disappear, but people change, reworking and solving a variety of behaviors unwanted thought that he could not resist.

Cognitive techniques to treat panic attacks

The first part of treatment is particularly informative, many people are already being helped greatly by the simple fact to understand exactly what is a disorder with panic attacks, and that many others suffer the same problem. In many cases, therefore, treat panic attacks simply mean better understand the phenomenon. Many people who suffer from panic disorder fear that the attacks mean they're "going crazy" or that the panic might induce a heart attack. The "cognitive restructuring" (change of thinking) helps people replace those thoughts with more realistic and positive ways of seeing the attacks.

With the succession of treatment sessions of cognitive techniques can help the patient identify possible triggers for the attacks. In one particular case the trigger may be an idea, a situation or something subtle like a slight change in heartbeat. Once the patient understands that the panic attack is separate and independent from other factors, this factor is beginning to lose some 'of its power to induce a seizure.

Keep in mind, however, that disorder, panic attacks, like any other emotional disorder, not something you can diagnose yourself. A psychotherapist expert is among the most qualified people to make the diagnosis, as it is among the most qualified to treat this disorder. The pages of this site is intended to answer basic questions about the disorder, a therapist will be able to give fuller information to treat panic attacks.